Carmine (also called cochineal) is a deep red, naturally occurring dye which has been used for thousands of years by populations in Central and North America. Despite the difficulty of producing carmine, the colorant is still in wide-spread demand. Carmine is an FDA approved additive, and is used to enhance the appearance of food, confections, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. In addition, its staining properties make it an excellent contrasting agent for microbiological studies and cellular research. Carminic acid (see STRUCTURE I below), which is the dominant chromophoric ingredient in carmine, is naturally produced during the life cycle of female insects of the genus Dactylopius, such as those of the species Dactylopius coccus (referred to herein as cochineal insects).

Cochineal insects occur naturally as parasites on cacti of the genus Opuntia, with Opuntia ficus-indica being the most suitable host. Historically, cultivation of cochineal insects for large scale harvest was initiated through careful inoculation of cacti with infected cactus pads or with pathogen-free females. Typically, in this approach, the insects are introduced to the host via baskets known as Zapotec nests. After inoculation, the cochineal insects must be protected from predators and from harmful weather conditions during their 3 month growth cycle.
Carmine is then laboriously extracted from the tiny (about 0.2 inch or 0.5 cm in length) female cochineal insects after the pads of the inoculated cacti are gathered. Approximately 155,000 insects are required to yield a single kg of carminic acid. The harvesting process is a labor and time intensive endeavor, and typically involves removing the cochineal insects by hand from the infected cactus pads.
More recently, it has been discovered that cochineal insects can be cultivated on an artificial medium. The details of this process may be found in commonly assigned U.S. 2011/0036295 (Merkle et al.), entitled “MEANS TO CULTURE COCHINEAL INSECTS IN AN ARTIFICIAL MEDIUM”, which was filed on Feb. 26, 2010, and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This approach has opened the door for widespread laboratory cultivation of cochineal insects.